Boredom Strikes: Internet Gamers Unite
by Thrythlind
Summary: About a year ago I got bored and wrote this...consider it an omake of the future of The Amazon and the Moneylender...


"Ranko, honey," Akane called out, knocking on the  
door. She knew Ranko resented being treated like a  
child, but Akane really couldn't help herself at  
times. She was rewarded with a kind of mumbled  
response. "You have classes today."  
  
"So?" she protested from the room. Akane arched an  
eyebrow. Whatever part of Ranma's personality that  
made him a morning person did not seem to have made it  
into Ranko's make up when they were split by the twin  
water.  
  
"I'm sure Ranma would be glad to wake you up," Akane  
said smirking. The muttering in Ranko's room got a  
little louder.  
  
"All right, all right," Ranko protested. Akane could  
hear her sitting up and stretching and smiled as the  
girl padded to wearily to the door and opened it.  
  
Ranko stood there in her long Utena T-shirt, blinking  
awake reluctantly. She was still wearing her dark red  
hair in imitation of Nabiki's helmet style, though at  
the moment the hair was mussed and wild from a night  
in bed. And of course the marks. The blue triangles at  
her eyes and the white dot in the center of her  
forehead.  
  
"What do I need to go to college for anyway?" Ranko  
asked. "It's not like I'm going to need to know what  
an hippo bowl is. Or the hospital's law. Or who Duke  
Fergy is and what he had to do with the War of  
Lilies."  
  
"Do you mean hyperbole, l'Hopital's rule, and Duke  
Ferdinand who's assassination started World War I?"  
Akane asked, smirking. Ranko crossed her arms and  
glared. "You're taking three classes, Ranko. Ranma and  
I each have a full load."  
  
"Yeah, yeah," Ranko muttered. She continued muttering  
angrily in Chinese as she walked back into her room to  
get ready for the day. Akane cleared her throat and  
Ranko turned to look at her.  
  
"My Chinese class has been going quite well," Akane  
said. Ranko blushed and laughed nervously as she  
turned back to her morning habits. Akane smirked as  
she walked away from the girl's room to go speak to  
her husband.  
  
Ranma was wrapping up a kata as she came into the  
dojo. She took a moment to admire his form and leaned  
against the wall. He finished the kata and looked to  
her as he finished the kata step perfect. Behind him,  
the phantom afterimage of his high-speed passage  
swiftly faded into nothing.  
  
"Need me to wake her up?" Ranma asked.  
  
"No, she's up," Akane said. "She's complaining about  
having to go to school, but she's up."  
  
"Think she's any feeling any better?" Ranma asked  
seriously.   
  
"She seemed okay," Akane said. "But basically she  
just got told that she'd be a child for the rest of  
her existence. From her perspective anyway."  
  
"Maybe we should take a day off and just go do  
something," Ranma said.  
  
"That'll just make her feel more like a child," Akane  
said. Not mentioning the way she acted on waking Ranko  
up.  
  
******  
  
Ranko looked at the outfit Shampoo had made for her,  
and Nabiki had apparently enchanted. That was big,  
Nabiki still did not like magic. So the fact that she  
had gone ahead and enchanted the outfit showed what  
she thought. Then again, it was probably because  
Nabiki still felt partially responsible for her  
"birth."  
  
She had planned to wear it when she finally was  
declared an adult by Amazon law. That would never  
happen now. The Amazons didn't want her, aside from  
those few that lived in Nerima, and most of them  
weren't real Amazons.  
  
She glanced back at the letters Nabiki and Shampoo  
had written to her. One was in Japanese and the other  
in Chinese. They both said practically the same thing.  
Basically to ignore the old idiots on the council and  
just got on with life.  
  
"You are a very courageous warrior," Shampoo said.  
"Forget what the council says. They are, many of them,  
too hidebound." Nabiki was more succinct.  
  
"Just wear the damn outfit," Nabiki said. Ranko liked  
that about the other woman, she knew how to make her  
point. But she couldn't do that, the garb was for an  
adult, fully accepted, Amazon warrior. Ranko wasn't  
even a person by the Council's standards. She was a  
product of the pools and that was it.  
  
Ranko stuffed the outfit's box back into its keeping  
place and dug out some sweats and another T-shirt. The  
t-shirt was silver on black and portrayed an obviously  
female werewolf with the English words "Black Furies"  
pasted across the back. Then it was time to fix her  
hair and on to meet Ranma and Akane before the three  
of them went to college.  
  
She glanced at the box holding her aunts' gift and  
sighed before shutting off the room light. These  
"modern" clothes had an attitude she liked, and she  
wouldn't give them up. It didn't mean that she didn't  
still want that outfit. Despite knowing she'd never be  
able to wear it now.  
  
******  
  
"I thought this was supposed to be an advanced  
engineering school," Skuld mumbled as she sat in the  
back of one of the classes. "Even Keiichi is light  
years beyond this stuff. Feh."   
  
She scrunched up her brows in frustration and quietly  
left the auditorium. Even if it was simple stuff she  
wasn't about to interrupt a bunch of students in  
learning about the glories of technology.  
  
After all. She wasn't Urd.  
  
She kicked a stone across the courtyard as she looked  
about for a convenient pool of water to port back home  
with. She just bet that the other classes weren't any  
better. She just bet that the literary department had  
probably never even heard of Snorri Sturlson or the  
Elder Edda. She paused.  
  
"Okay," she admitted. "That's a little harsh."   
  
She looked up at a trio of students apparently  
meeting for lunch. At least two of them seemed related  
somehow, and the other two were definitely close. Very  
close, but Skuld wouldn't have looked long enough to  
notice that if she hadn't caught a glimpse of one of  
the girls' faces.  
  
The girl, a Japanese-Chinese girl with dark red hair  
and a rather unsatisfied expression on her face that  
Skuld could appreciate, had a trio of blue marks on  
her face.  
  
"Another goddess down here?" Skuld blinked and took  
out her analysis goggles. She slipped them on to  
ascertain whether she was just seeing someone with odd  
tastes in tattoos or if, yes it was another goddess  
hanging around with those two mortals.  
  
As she activated the goggles her eyes threatened to  
bulge out of their confines. Skuld nearly walked into  
a tree in her surprise. She had to correct her first  
estimation. There were no mortals in that little  
group after all. In fact, life patterns indicated  
that the guy was the goddess's father.  
  
~I wonder what they're doing here,~ Skuld wondered.   
She blinked a couple of times and then smiled broadly.  
~This is just like one of those American Nancy Drew  
books! Cool!!~ Never mind the fact any group sent by  
heaven to Earth would probably be looking to avoid  
attention. Skuld had been bored, now she had  
something to do.  
  
She noticed the guy turning in her direction and  
quickly ducked behind a tree, damping her aura as she  
did so. When she next peeked around the tree they  
were gathering up their lunch trays. The two humans,  
obviously lovers if not married, talked for a few  
moments to the goddess and then the three of them  
traveled off to their various classes.  
  
It took Skuld all of two seconds to decide which to  
follow. After all, the goddess was a fledgling and  
less likely to spot her than the other two.  
  
~Black furies?~ she thought, reading the back of the  
girl's shirt. ~Feh, Sons of Ether are better any day  
of the week.~  
  
******  
  
Ranko leaned into her hand and yawned as she tried to  
listen to the teacher lecture about world history. To  
tell the truth this class really bothered her. It  
sort of rammed home the fact that her memories were  
completely screwed up. Then again, studying with her  
"father" showed that, even with swiss cheese memories,  
she knew more than he did.  
  
That was really pathetic actually.  
  
Ranko grimaced as she listened to the teacher talking  
about the Japanese conquest of eastern China during  
World War II. To think that this little island had  
ever reached such power, it was almost unfathomable to  
her.   
  
Even more disturbing was the fact that America had  
then beaten Japan in the war. Even after Japan had  
gotten the first major shots into the war. With the  
gaijin fighting another war at the same time. It was  
more than a little surprising.  
  
Ranko shivered and scratched the back of her head,  
stretching back. She felt a little nervous for some  
other reason, a little tickling at the base of her  
skull that told her she was being watched. She  
glanced around the lecture hall for a moment, and  
fought down the twinge of fear she felt.  
  
She didn't see anyone that looked threatening, but  
moved cautiously, none the less, as the class ended.   
Collecting her books she slung her bag over her  
shoulder and walked to the door watching for anybody  
staring at her.  
  
~I'm losing it,~ she thought irritably, slamming her  
fist into the wall to her side. She grimaced  
irritably and shook out her hand from the hit.   
Another reminder of the reason why the Amazon's  
wouldn't let her even try to take the trials.  
  
She stalked irritably down towards the computer lab,  
thankful to Nabiki for introducing her to the  
internet. If she was lucky, then there would be a new  
move on the White Wolf game up and she could work out  
her frustrations a little by writing a good combat  
post.  
  
~I'm turning into one of those weak-kneed techno  
dependants.~ Ranko sighed guiltily as she considered  
the Amazon council's probable reaction to her  
enjoyment of the online community. Despite this, she  
sat down at a computer and proceeded to hunt and peck  
the proper keys to pull up her mail account.  
  
~Post up!~ Ranko mentally chimed as she bent forward  
to read the post. ~Let's see what miss 'Greatest GM  
in the Universe' has for us now.~  
  
She only put up with computers because of this game.   
Since finding it two years ago she had felt less like  
a cripple. Suddenly the huge leaps, superhuman speed  
and strength, all those things that the transformation  
of her chi into...whatever...had taken from her. It  
was all hers again. Sort of.  
  
There was a private email after that, from the devil  
tiger's player. Someone going by the name  
"Bloodletter." That she opened just as eagerly, if  
with some trepidation. Bloodletter and her's  
friendship seemed mostly based on shared misery, and  
that was sometimes a let down.   
  
This time it was just game talk, she was giving Ranko  
some forewarning of stuff her kuei jin would be doing,  
but at the end of the private mail was a quick  
question about her quest with the Amazons and Ranko  
twitched a little irritably.   
  
That was the problem with the sort of my problem, your  
problem friendship she had with the woman. Bad news  
eventually got dredged up. She sent a reply out,  
editing out Bloodletter's stuff and turning into a  
mail to all the players. She figured she might as  
well apologize in case she had gotten or was about to  
get snipey.  
  
"Guncat?" she blinked. ~What's Guncat doing up,  
isn't it like the middle of the night over there?~   
She read the response and smirked.  
  
"You Idiot!!" Annie shouts. "You're going to let  
every damn ghoul in the place know we're here!!"   
Annie growls irritably and proceeds to lay down  
covering fire for whatever the stupid dog doesn't  
notice. Using her specially made...  
  
Guncat's bastet loved her guns.   
  
Then again, considering the ultra technical nature of  
some of her posts, so did Guncat. Neobomb did the  
same thing with her creations, and Ranko had to admit  
her fighting posts were rather choreographed. The  
things Bloodletter got obsessive about  
were...disturbing. She shrugged, that's what the game  
was for after all, letting yourself go.  
  
That feeling of being watched persisted and Ranko  
looked up to glance around the room. The only thing  
unusual she found was what looked like a fourteen year  
old kid at a computer a few rows back. She skipped  
over the girl after a moments inspection of the back  
of her skull. She shrugged the feeling away again.  
  
******  
  
Skuld glanced away from the computer and back towards  
her quarry. She relaxed upon seeing that the redhead  
with the helmet cut was still there, and typing at an  
abysmally slow rate. Skuld rolled her eyes and turned  
back to the school computer to pull up another  
internet window while the first tried to pull up  
Yggdrasil.  
  
Skuld glanced over her mail and growled as she came  
to one mail.  
  
"Ha!" she snapped. "I knew she'd do that!" She  
covered her mouth and laughed nervously at the people  
next to her. Glancing back she saw that the redhead  
hadn't seemed to notice her at all.   
  
~That werewolf,~ she thought, smirking. ~Always good  
to get the bad guy's attention. Of course Guncat's  
probably going to post something like...there it is  
already. She's up late.~ She read the post and  
huffed a little irritably. ~Doesn't she trust me to  
handle the security system, sheesh.~  
  
She glanced back to check on the mystery goddess's  
position and noted her collecting her things. Skuld  
twitched and bent forward to finish up her task of  
replying to the general carnage in the game and then  
sign out of both windows before getting out of her  
chair to get back on the redhead's tail. Her  
neighbors were left staring in shock at where Skuld  
had displayed a typing ability that nearly pushed the  
keyboard's limits. And it was obvious she was holding  
back.  
  
******  
  
"Skuld said she'd be on campus today," Belldandy said  
Keiichi as she moved into step next to him.  
  
"Maybe she decided to stay home after all," Keiichi  
said hopefully. Indicating that he hadn't seen the  
young goddess either.  
  
"I hope nothing is wrong," Belldandy said.   
  
They passed a younger student, she almost looked like  
she still belonged in high school actually. The woman  
paused in her task, pinning a poster to a bulletin  
board, and turned to face them, a puzzled look on her  
face. There was an economy of motion to her actions  
that was easily evident.  
  
"Excuse me," the woman said warily. Belldandy and  
Keiichi turned to face her, also cautious. Encounters  
like this rarely meant good news.  
  
"Hey, Akane," someone shouted down the hall. The  
woman turned toward the voice and smiled as she walked  
to meet the speaker. A young man a little taller than  
her. Where the woman seemed graceful and economic in  
her motions, the young man seemed to almost be made of  
air.  
  
"Ranma," the woman, apparently Akane, responded  
cheerfully. Then she frowned. "I thought you were  
still in class." She didn't say anything more with  
the witnesses right there. The young man, apparently  
Ranma, laughed nervously and scratched the back of his  
head.  
  
"They let out..." Ranma's voice sort of trailed off as  
he saw Belldandy. Keeping his eye on Belldandy, he  
inclined his head toward Akane. "Am I seeing what I  
think I'm seeing?"  
  
"Looks like it," Akane said, again looking at  
Belldandy.  
  
"Excuse me," Keiichi said. "But what's the deal?"  
  
"Do we know you perhaps?" Belldandy asked, starting  
to open up her senses. She wished that Skuld had been  
there so she could ask for a more detailed scan of the  
pair.  
  
"Sorry," Ranma said shaking his head clear. "But  
where did you get those marks on your face."   
Belldandy's eyes widened as she felt the power  
emanating from the two.  
  
"Ranma!" Akane gasped, jabbing him with an elbow.  
  
"Listen pal," Keiichi said moving up into Ranma's  
face. "It's sort of rude to talk about people like  
that."  
  
"Hey, I was just askin," Ranma started.  
  
"Keiichi be careful," Belldandy said, watching the  
two carefully. Keiichi glanced back and saw  
Belldandy's serious, cautious face and wondered what  
he had just gotten himself into.  
  
"Please excuse my husband," Akane said  
apologetically. "His father didn't really bother to  
teach him about dealing with people. I'm Saotome  
Akane." She bowed with a cheerful, disarming smile.   
Belldandy relaxed marginally.  
  
"I suppose that's okay," Belldandy said.  
  
"You haven't said what your problem is," Keiichi  
said. Ranma and Akane looked over him in a manner  
that made him uncomfortable.  
  
"Ya got an impressive aura guy," Ranma said. "But  
you ain't a fighter." There was no threat in the  
sentence, just a statement of fact. Keiichi sweated  
anyway.  
  
"Ranma," Akane said warningly.  
  
"Yeah, I know," Ranma said, sighing. "Look it's just  
that we know someone with those same marks almost.   
'Cept the one on the forehead."  
  
"Oh," Belldandy said, relaxing a deal more at that.   
"Who would that be?"  
  
"She's my...daughter," Ranma said hesitantly. "Sort  
of." Belldandy and Keiichi stared at him in shock for  
a moment.  
  
"You two have a..." he glanced around nervously.   
"...a kid that looks like Bell?"  
  
"It's a long a story," Akane said. "We were just  
wondering if you could help us with her."  
  
"Is something wrong?" Belldandy asked, still  
surprised.  
  
"Do you know how to use your...umm," Ranma shrugged.   
"Life force, ta do stuff?"  
  
"Of course," Belldandy said. "You're saying she  
can't use her mana?"  
  
"Mana?" Akane said, blinking. "As in from heaven?"   
Belldandy blushed and Keiichi swallowed.  
  
"I don't know about that," Ranma said, getting a  
surprised look from Belldandy. "Saffron had the same  
stuff, and he didn't seem very heavenly." Keiichi  
heard Belldandy's gasp of shock and recognition and  
took on a resigned look.  
  
"You know what he's talking about, Bell?" Keiichi  
asked.  
  
"Saffron is a god that went rogue and became a  
dictator of a small midgard country," Belldandy  
explained. "He was defeated and forced into a new  
incarnation by a human named Ranma Saotome, almost  
five years ago. He was torn limb from limb in fact."  
  
~This guy tore a god limb from limb,~ Keiichi  
swallowed nervously but placed himself firmly between  
Ranma and Belldandy. Ranma smirked, and Akane rolled  
her eyes. Both seemed to approve of the motion  
though.  
  
"The jerk almost let Akane die anyway," Ranma said.   
"Can we get past the introductions without a fight?"  
  
"We're just hoping you know something about how to  
help Ranko," Akane said.  
  
"Certainly," Belldandy said. "Keiichi, it's fine.   
Saffron was a rogue, almost as bad as a demon."  
  
"Are you sure?" Keiichi asked.  
  
"As if we'd threaten anyone that seems so much like  
Kasumi," Ranma said.  
  
"They don't know who Kasumi is, Baka," Akane reminded  
him. Belldandy smiled at the affection in the  
apparent insult.  
  
"Well, we don't have any more classes," Keiichi said.  
  
"I'll talk to her if you like," Belldandy said.  
  
"She's gonna be at this restaurant that belongs to a  
friend of ours," Akane said. "Would you join us for  
lunch?"  
  
"That would be nice," Belldandy said, completely  
relaxed. There was certainly no hostile intent coming  
from these two. "So, Ranma-san, how old is your  
daughter?"  
  
"Four or twenty" Ranma said. "We're not sure which  
it should be." Belldandy and Keiichi stared at him  
for a moment.   
  
"It's a long story," Ranma and Akane said together.  
  
******  
  
Mara yawned and stretched, fed up with pacing the  
room and thinking of a new plan to split up Belldandy  
and Keiichi. She popped a couple joints and sat down  
at her computer. Pulling it up she happily noted a  
string of new messages.  
  
"All right!! Post up!" she called out. After  
finishing with the game stuff she got to Wldchld14's  
response to her private mail. It had a new subject  
header, none of her text was there, and it was sent to  
all six of them.  
  
The council says that even if I was strong enough to  
take the trials, that I ain't really a person so no go  
either way.  
  
There was already a reply up, and Guncat was as  
succinct as ever.  
  
That sucks.  
  
"What's she doing up?" Mara asked as she sent out her  
condolences, and a thinly veiled offer to bring about  
some retribution. Then it was time for work again,  
she sighed irritably. She was really beginning to  
hate her job.  
  
As soon as she disconnected the computer her phone  
started ringing. Mara sweatdropped and hesitantly  
picked up the phone.  
  
"Hello?" she said hoarsely.   
  
The next thing she knew was that her ear drums were  
being blasted out as some greater demon went about  
lecturing her about tying up the phone lines. Then  
the assignment came, no she wasn't being reassigned.   
This new one could actually help her first one.  
  
"You want me to convert a goddess?" she said  
uncertainly. "I already know her?"   
  
Her computer started spontaneously printing out a  
file, sending the pages flying about the room, as her  
superior continued to shout in her ear. After she was  
allowed to leave she collected the scattered sheets of  
paper and tried to arrange them in proper order.  
  
"Wild child is a goddess!" she screeched. She  
swallowed nervously and sat back down at her computer.  
It was like with her sister all over again. The  
bosses wouldn't allow her any friendships it seemed.  
  
She hesitated before starting to send another mail.  
  
Hey, why don't we meet...  
  
******  
  
Skuld turned the corner and looked up and down the  
street for any sign of the redhead. It was like the  
goddess had just vanished, but Skuld's goggles hadn't  
registered a teleport, or a spell or anything like  
that.  
  
"Ahh, nuts!" Skuld said. Then someone leaned on her  
shoulders from behind.  
  
"What's your deal, kid?" a voice asked. Skuld  
laughed nervously and turned to see the redhead's  
elbow on her shoulder, with the other goddess's chin  
cupped in her hand.  
  
"How'd you do that?" Skuld asked. "I didn't get any  
readings on any sort of spell." The redhead arched an  
eyebrow and pointed to a shallow alcove just around  
the corner.  
  
"Now, why are you following me," the girl asked.  
  
"Ummm..." Skuld blushed nervously and muttered  
something.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I was bored, okay?" Skuld said. "And I was  
wondering what you three were doing here."  
  
"Three...?" the girl frowned and then nodded as she  
figured it out. "You mean Ranma and Akane, right?"  
  
"Your father and that valkyrie, and you," Skuld  
nodded. She firmed up her courage. After all, she  
was thousands upon thousands of years old. Even if  
she wouldn't remember most of that time until sometime  
after she finished growing in her current incarnation.  
"Now what are you doing here?"  
  
"Akane's a valkyrie?" the girl blinked.  
  
"Yes," Skuld said uncertainly. "And your father's an  
einherjar." The strange goddess's eyes narrowed.  
  
"Those better not be insults," she said. Skuld  
tipped over and planted her face in the ground.  
  
"What kind of goddess are you!?" Skuld demanded,  
putting herself right in the other's face.  
  
"Goddess?" the girl said. She blinked and then  
gasped as if she suddenly noticed something. "Hey,  
you got marks on your face just like mine." Skuld  
held out her hands, fingers, mouth and eye twitching.  
  
******  
  
"Welcome to Ucchans," the woman behind the counter  
said. "Oh, hi, Ranko-chan, who's your friend?" Ranko  
shrugged as Ukyou narrowed her eyes at the  
similarities between the two girl's life forces.  
  
"Hey, Ukyou," Ranko said, then looked to Skuld.   
"This is Skuld, she's a little crazy, but she thinks  
I'm a goddess so she can't be all that bad."  
  
"I am not crazy!" Skuld insisted angrily.  
  
"Well, you got Ranma's ego," Ukyou said jokingly.   
"That's for sure." Ranko groaned as she sat on the  
stool and put her head down on the counter.  
  
"Hey," Skuld said.  
  
"You always say that," Ranko muttered. She picked  
her head up and looked around. "Ryouga's lost again?"  
  
"You got it kiddo," Ukyou said. "Since this morning.  
Interested in babysitting?"  
  
"Did you hear me?" Skuld demanded. "I said that I'm  
not crazy."  
  
"I didn't say you were," Ukyou said. Ranko gave her  
a look.  
  
"Come on," she said. "You don't believe her do you?"  
  
"It's true!" Skuld insisted.  
  
"Stranger things have happened," Ukyou shrugged.  
  
"The Amazons called me an 'object'," Ranko reminded  
her. "I can't even channel enough chi, or whatever,  
to shatter a brick any more."  
  
"You're a little too hard on yourself," Ukyou said,  
shaking her head.  
  
"That's what everybody else says," Ranko muttered.   
Ukyou sighed and turned to Skuld.  
  
"If Ranko's a goddess," she said. "I suppose that  
makes you one too?"  
  
"That's right," Skuld said, nodding proudly. Then  
clamped her mouth shut. "But I'm not supposed to tell  
anyone, da...rn it." Ukyou smirked.  
  
"Ukyou, I'm going to use your computer," Ranko said.   
"Okay?"  
  
"Sure kiddo," Ukyou said. "What do you want on your  
okonomiyaki."  
  
"I'll wait for Ranma and Akane to get here," the  
redhead said, disappearing into the back.  
  
"How about you?" Ukyou asked. "What can I get her  
holiness?"  
  
"Do you have any ice cream?" Skuld asked. I few  
seconds later Skuld was looking at the first ice cream  
okonomiyaki she had ever seen.  
  
"It's an okonomiyaki shaped sundae," Ukyou said.   
"Cool huh?" Skuld sweatdropped.  
  
******  
  
Keiichi had quite rightly concluded that the two  
people walking next to him and Belldandy had a  
weirdness factor that challenged even his day to day  
life. What really made him twitch was how calmly they  
explained Ranko's "birth."  
  
"So she's like a clone then?" Keiichi asked,  
remembering with a shiver the trouble they had with  
two Urds running around.  
  
"No, the twin water allows for the creation of a  
whole new person," Belldandy explained. "The fact  
that she has..."   
  
Belldandy paused, uncertain of whether or not to pass  
this information along or not. The two of them would  
eventually be called to heaven as well, immortals were  
not supposed to run around Earth without a reason.   
Still...  
  
"The fact that she changed proves she has her own  
soul," Belldandy said.  
  
"We know she's got a soul," Ranma said. "And don't  
tell her she's some sort of copy either."  
  
"He didn't mean anything by it, Ranma," Akane said.  
  
"Yeah, I know," Ranma said. "It's the ones that  
don't do it on purpose that are the worse though, you  
know?" Akane nodded in agreement, considering her own  
reaction whenever someone insulted her without even  
realizing it.  
  
"We'll be sure to take care of how we treat her,"  
Belldandy assured them.  
  
~Sort of daughter, my foot,~ Keiichi thought. ~This  
guy's really protective of her.~ "How did she...get  
her marks anyway?" Belldandy turned to the two  
martial artists at Keiichi's question, curious about  
that herself.  
  
"She was...sick," Akane said hesitantly. "Someone  
tried to get at us through her and she ended up  
poisoned. The only cure that we were told would work  
was fruit from the holy peach tree."  
  
"She got the marks while she was eating the peach we  
got," Ranma said. Belldandy blinked in surprise and  
then smiled sunnily.  
  
"I'm quite impressed," she said. "Not many people  
would acquire that prize just to give it to someone  
else."  
  
"What would we use it for?" Ranma asked seriously.  
  
"Eternal life," Belldandy said simply. Ranma and  
Akane grimaced.  
  
"I think we got that anyway," Akane said, somewhat  
sadly.  
  
"Don't be too sad," Belldandy said. "Things will  
work out in time." ~You and your children will live  
forever among the heros of heaven and their children,  
I'm just not sure if you're ready to here that yet.~  
  
They looked forward to the Ucchan's sign showing  
through the rainbow of store flags and signs.  
  
******  
  
"Guncat's still up?" Ranko said, surprised. "There's  
soulsword, what's she gonna do?"   
  
Predictably enough, soulsword's sidhe was making some  
sort of speech before she, too descended on the  
ghouls, sword swinging. Neobomb and Bloodletter's  
characters were handling the infiltration end  
apparently.  
  
Ranko smirked.  
  
"That vampire must absolutely hate being out of the  
fight," she snickered. She glanced on down and found  
messages from Guncat, Bloodletter and soulsword  
regarding her status as a citizen. Then there was  
Bloodletter's mail asking to meet.  
  
Meet? Like when and where?  
  
She sent the message and was surprised to receive an  
answer only a few moments later.  
  
How's now? Nerima park? Ranko considered that for a  
moment and then shrugged. She had nothing better to  
do.   
  
After sending her confirmation she started to walk out  
toward the street, and stopped herself. If she left  
that way, Skuld would follow her. She glanced at the  
rear window and nodded. She wrote up a quick note and  
pasted it to the computer monitor before slipping out  
the back. Then she was off to meet this woman that  
complained about her job so much.  
  
******  
  
"Damn rental," Rally muttered as she kicked the car  
and got out to walk.  
  
"So what are we still doing in Japan, huh?" May asked  
next to her. Rally walked up to a pay phone and set  
up her lap top again. "How long is it before you get  
picked up for that gun?"  
  
"You're the one with explosives to level a mountain,"  
Rally said as she called up her email account again.   
She immediately smiled in triumph. "All right, Becky.  
Thank you."  
  
"Okay, so what are we here for?" May asked again.   
"We already got the creep handed over to US Embassy,  
the bounty is only a little more than our expenses.   
What are we doing? Another bounty?"  
  
"Nope," Rally said. "I'm going to surprise some  
friends."  
  
"You have friends in Japan?" May asked, surprised.  
  
"Yep, and Becky just intercepted some mail for me  
that says where two of them are going to be in a  
little bit," she said proudly. She slipped her lap  
top back into the shoulder bag and started walking  
down the street.  
  
"Aren't we going to take the car?" May asked,  
pointing. Rally grimaced and glanced over her  
shoulder.  
  
"That piece of crap?" she demanded, shaking her head.  
"Walking's faster."  
  
******  
  
Ranko was starting to tire by the time she reached  
the park and sat down at a bench to wait for her  
friend to show up. It would be nice to have another  
friend. Maybe, if she got enough friends, she'd be  
able to make her own tribe. Some place she fit in  
like she didn't in Japan or Joketsuzoku.  
  
It didn't take long for boredom to over take her and  
she started doing katas while she waited. She moved  
smoothly, form perfect, but without any really power.   
She could handle a few street thugs, maybe an average  
black belt. Beyond that, she just couldn't guess.  
  
She was interrupted in her activities by the sight of  
a little boy wandering around by himself. She frowned  
and looked across the park. The playscape was way on  
the other side, out of sight from here. Unless the  
kid's parents were with him she didn't see why he was  
over here. Somehow she got the feeling that the kids  
parents definitely didn't know where he was.  
  
"Hey kid," she said, walking over and bending down to  
his eye level. She didn't have to bend far. "You  
lost or something?" The kid shook his head. "So  
where are your mommy and daddy?" She had a sudden  
flash of a young couple frantically searching the park  
for this kid. He pointed back towards the playscape.   
"So why don't you go back to them? I'm sure they're  
worried aboutcha."  
  
"No they're not," he said. "They're mean." Ranko  
smirked and quirked an eyebrow.  
  
"So what do they do that's mean?" she asked.  
  
"They won't let me play on the big slide," he said.  
  
"The big slide's a little tall for you," Ranko said  
soothingly. "I think maybe they're just worried  
you'll hurt yourself."  
  
"But I'm a big kid now," he insisted.  
  
"Ok," she said. "But the big slides for a very big  
kid." The boy probably couldn't even get up the  
ladder that was made for that slide.  
  
"I'm a very big kid," he insisted petulantly.   
"They're just being mean."  
  
"That's their job," Ranko said. "They're supposed to  
watch out for you."  
  
"I can watch out for myself," he snapped. Ranko  
sighed, she liked kids. For some reason she couldn't  
lay a finger on she was usually fairly good with them.  
Sometimes she flubbed it though.  
  
"I'm sure you can," she said soothingly. "But you  
gotta humor your mom and dad. Parents get kind of  
paranoid, always afraid somethin' bad was going to  
happen you know? So you got to put up with it until  
you're old enough to get your own place. And you know  
what?"  
  
"What?" he asked.  
  
"Then you get to tell your own kids what to do," she  
said conspiratorially.  
  
"Sota!" someone called out. It wasn't a parent,  
sounded like a young girl actually. Well, Ranko had  
expected someone to come by soon. "Sota, where are  
you. Mom and grandpa are worried sick about you!"  
  
"I'm over here!" the boy called out. A girl came  
stomping into view and walked up to Ranko and Sota,  
cautiously watching Ranko. "I was just talking to  
this girl, Kagome."  
  
"I'm sorry if he's being a pest, miss," the girl  
said. Ranko shrugged.  
  
"Nah, I just thought he might be lost and decided to  
help out a little," she said. She stood up and got a  
good look at Kagome, something flashed over her senses  
and she flinched.  
  
"Is something wrong?" the girl, she was maybe twelve.  
  
"Just felt something funny is all," Ranko said. She  
looked closely at Kagome and then shook her head. "Do  
you have a pet dog by any chance?"  
  
"No, just a cat," Kagome said, not noticing Ranko  
twitch a little. She wasn't AS nervous around cats as  
Ranma, but they did give her the willies at times.   
"Why?"  
  
"Uhh...I'm allergic to dogs," she said quickly. "And  
I thought that funny feeling might be a reaction."   
She really had know idea why she asked, it just felt  
like the thing to do.  
  
"Ohh kay," Kagome said. She started herding Sota  
away from the strange girl.  
  
"Gotta be careful with strays you pick up, you know,"  
Ranko said, again for no apparent reason. "They don't  
like to get attached to people if they can help it."  
  
"Right," Kagome said, and then she picked up Sota and  
was running away from Ranko. Ranko slapped herself in  
the forehead.  
  
"What was that about?" she wondered irritably and  
went back to her bench to wait.  
  
******  
  
"Did your dream get into any specifics?" Ayako asked.  
  
"Nope, I just think something big is going to happen  
around here," Yohko said. "Even if nothing happens,  
Guncat sent me a mail saying she was going to be in  
the country and maybe we could surprise a couple other  
players."  
  
"Oh yes, the game. Now let me get this straight,"  
Ayako said, narrowing her eyes. "You do this to relax  
and escape reality for a little while."  
  
"Right," Yohko said. "I know you have to have your  
own hobbies, Ayako."  
  
"I'm not finished," Ayako said.  
  
"Oh, okay," Yohko shrugged.  
  
"Now, in this game," Ayako continued, rubbing her  
forehead. "You play a woman from an ancient family  
that uses a sword, fights monsters and demons, lives  
in a dream world and has bad luck with romance?"  
  
"That's right," Yohko confirmed, uncertain of where  
she was going. "But she's an elf, or faerie, or  
something. Not human anyway."  
  
"Whatever," Ayako said. "My only question is this.   
How is that an escape from your normal life?"  
  
"Ummm..." Yohko struggled to come up with an answer.   
"I don't live in a dream world." Ayako gave her a  
look.  
  
"Let's see if the Azusas have the luggage ready," she  
muttered.   
  
******  
  
Mara watched the scene unfold with a sense of  
nostalgia. Ranko might not know that she was a  
goddess, but she was a natural. And it was plain to  
see what her domain was, and why hell would want to  
recruit her. Mara frowned as she thought back  
thousands of years to a little orphan wandering the  
streets. Somebody offering to make her strong enough  
to survive if she just signed on the dotted line.  
  
"If a goddess like her had been active back then,"  
she whispered. "They wouldn't have gotten half the  
recruits they did. On the other hand, a demon like  
her..." The thought actually disturbed Mara. She  
glanced at the black paper in her hand and hesitated  
before stuffing it in her pocket and moving to meet  
Ranko.  
  
******  
  
"Wldchld14?" someone asked behind her.   
  
Ranko turned to the sound of the voice and saw a woman  
in her early twenties standing there with a lopsided  
grin. The red marks on the woman's face gave her a  
sense of unease for some reason, but she ignored it.   
She had her own marks. What did someone else's  
matter.  
  
"Bloodletter?" she asked in response.  
  
"It's Mara actually," the woman said with a smile as  
she sat down next to Ranko. "What's your name?"  
  
"Saotome Ranko," she said pleasantly, bowing at the  
waist.   
  
"You're younger than I expected," Mara said.  
  
"I don't look my age," Ranko said simply. Mara  
leaned over with a smile.  
  
"Oh, older than you look I guess?" she asked.   
  
Mara noted, with a sort of satisfaction, that Ranko's  
eyes diverted to her chest for a moment. She couldn't  
really tell what the goddess's preferences were, but  
it didn't really matter to her. Mara had been  
practicing her trade for centuries, anybody mortal  
would fall to her eventually. And for the moment,  
Ranko wasn't much more than mortal herself.  
  
"So what did you want to talk about?" Ranko asked  
nervously.  
  
"I just thought you needed a little cheering up," she  
said softly, wrapping her arms around Ranko's  
shoulder. "What with the way those old hens were  
treating you, just because of a little mixed blood."   
Ranko had let them assume that particular idea, not  
telling them directly, but not correcting them either.  
  
"Hey!" Ranko snapped, standing up away from Mara in  
surprise and a little anger. "Watch it. I like you  
and all but, I ain't like that." There was a little  
uncertainty in her voice though. Mara smiled  
internally, keeping up that no-mind concentration that  
allowed her to ignore the consequences of her actins.  
  
~She doesn't know for sure then?~ Mara thought, and  
imagined the fun she could convince this girl to  
engage in. And some point, while Ranko was distracted  
by the pleasures, ask her the question and of course  
she would say yes. Then they could truly be friends  
forever.  
  
And then Mara's former unease cracked through the  
layer of ignorance she had constructed for herself.  
  
Mara flinched and shook her head clear. They  
wouldn't be friends after that. Mara certainly held  
no affection for the demon that tricked her. Ranko  
would just be an ex-lover that Mara had tricked into  
condemning herself for eternity. And if it got out to  
Urd that she had tricked a fledgling goddess into  
changing sides. Well, all her friends would be gone.  
  
"Are you okay, Blood?" Ranko asked as the woman's  
expression changed from a lusting one, to one of  
remorse.  
  
"I can't do it," Mara said. She took a black sheet  
of paper out of her pocket.  
  
"Can't do what?" Ranko asked nervously.  
  
"See these marks, Ranko," Mara said. "They mean I'm  
a demon."  
  
"Okay," Ranko said, getting hesitantly into stance.   
If the woman was telling the truth, she'd have no  
chance in a fight, but she would go down fighting  
anyway. Mara wasn't paying attention to her, merely  
looking at the paper in her hand.  
  
"I was supposed to get you to sign this and become one  
of us before you figured out what you were," Mara  
explained. "I guess then they'd have you corrupting  
children throughout the rest of eternity. You're a  
natural with kids. I saw that." Ranko swallowed  
nervously at the thought, somewhat sickened.  
  
"This is a joke, right," she asked. Mara shook her  
head and started folding the paper in her hands.  
  
"Nope, as a goddess you'd be a real detriment to my  
bosses," she explained. "But as a demon, oh the  
damage someone like you could do. But I'm not going  
to do it. I'm tired of getting assigned to destroy my  
friends."   
  
She tore the paper in her hand, and then tore it again  
and again. Then demon tossed up the papers and  
watched them burst into flames as the wind picked them  
up.  
  
"That's that," Mara said resignedly as Ranko looked  
on at her, surprised. The area was quiet for the  
space of half a minute before three whirlwinds  
appeared in the area around them, coalescing into  
three humanoid male beings.  
  
"Mara, demon first class," one of the figures, a  
reddish man with the same sharp teeth that Mara had.   
"You are accused of high treason, I'm taking you in  
now." Mara nodded meekly.  
  
******  
  
The sound of the bell brought Skuld's attention to  
the door, and she almost fell off her stool in  
surprise. She was having an uncomfortable time with  
getting shocked today.  
  
"Skuld-chan!" Belldandy said with a little reproach.   
"There you are!"  
  
"Oneesama," she said loudly. "How did you meet  
them!?"  
  
"You know them Skuld?" Keiichi asked.  
  
"She came in with Ranko today," Ukyou said from  
behind the counter. "She's been telling me about how  
Ranko's a goddess." It was only half a joke. Keiichi  
slapped his hand into his face, while Skuld blushed  
and laughed nervously.  
  
"God...dess?" Ranma said in surprise.  
  
"Oh dear," Belldandy said. "I was hoping to break  
that to you a little more gently."  
  
"You mean it's true?" Ukyou asked, blinking.   
Belldandy nodded reluctantly. Three thumps were heard  
shortly thereafter.  
  
"Oh my," Belldandy said. "They didn't take that very  
well."  
  
******  
  
"Hey! Don't just stand there," Ranko shouted.   
"Fight 'em!" The lead demon glanced at her and then  
the other two demons.  
  
"Seal the goddess," he said. "But don't kill her, we  
don't know who her double is." Ranko winced and  
returned to her stance. Mara whipped to her feet and  
released a wave of dark fire into one of the two  
subordinate demons.  
  
"Yeah!" Ranko cheered on. She chunked a rock at the  
other minor demon. She was pleased to see it smack  
the demon on the back of the head and send him  
sprawling to the ground. Someone else without access  
to any magic also felt heartened by the sight.  
  
"Run!" the demoness ordered her as she prepared to  
strike out again.  
  
"By order of the Lord of Lies," the leader snapped.   
"Your power is revoked!" Mara's next attack fizzled  
into nothing before she could even completely form it  
and the demon collapsed to the ground, exhausted.  
  
"I ain't leaving you to them," Ranko shouted.   
  
The head demon was about to respond when the scene was  
bathed in sudden blinding light. Ranko squinted her  
eyes shut and could only listen at the barrage of  
gunshots that followed immediately after the flash.   
When the flash died down, a tanned woman wearing  
sunglasses stood next to a panting Mara. A small gun  
was held in her hand as she scanned the scene. The  
three demons were down on the ground, each with two  
gaping wounds in their skulls.  
  
"Who the-?" Mara gasped.  
  
"Rally Vincent," the woman said cheerfully. "Bounty  
hunter, owner and operator of Gunsmith Cats." Her  
Japanese wasn't bad, but it definitely had a strong  
American accent. A blonde, who looked younger than  
Ranko did, came out from behind some trees and kicked  
at the demon bodies, muttering something in English.   
Rally glanced at one of the dead demons and continued  
an amused tone of voice. "and demon slayer."  
  
"Gunsmith Cats," Ranko repeated. "Guncat?!" Rally  
nodded with a smirk.  
  
"I was in Japan on business," she said. "That's my  
partner over there, Minnie May." The blonde waved a  
little nervously.  
  
"How the hell did you do that?" Mara asked, out of  
breath. Rally ignored the question.  
  
"These are demons, eh?" she said. "They didn't seem  
too tough." Mara panted and climbed to a seat on the  
bench. The bodies were starting to fade away already.  
  
"How'd you find us?" Ranko demanded, catching her  
breath from the near disaster.  
  
"A friend of mine intercepted the emails. No  
offense," Rally said. "I think I prefer the game to  
this." Mara and Ranko nodded whole-heartedly. She  
glanced at Mara suspiciously for a moment and then  
shrugged it off as the demon continued to recover.  
  
"You know," Mara said. "They usually don't send  
minions out to get traitors. They usually jus-" Mara  
vanished in a whirlwind of smoke.  
  
******  
  
"Phew, they almost got away," Washu said. She turned  
to look back at the man in her lab. It pleased the  
being to appear as a man at this point anyway.   
"Thanks for the warning, it would be a pity to  
interrupt my game."  
  
"I thought you might say that," the figure said,  
smiling. "You know that you can't directly  
interfere."  
  
"If I directly interfered," Washu said, smirking.   
"Mara wouldn't have left Earth."  
  
"What do you call catching her in a pocket  
dimension?" the man asked. "Out of curiousity."  
  
"Field testing my equipment," Washu said simply. "I  
can pay them a visit, I see you've got them all going  
to one place already. Been planning this?"  
  
"It's hard to plan for free will," he said, without  
denying it.  
  
"Uh huh," Washu said. "Anyway, I can pay them a  
visit, provide some technical support. And I don't  
think Ryoko would begrudge her mother a favor.   
Especially if her daughter is already going, ne,  
Minagi-chan?" She turned her attention to a rather  
cheerful looking version of Ryoko, almost identical  
aside from the clothes and the sickle marks on her  
cheeks.  
  
"Hai," Minagi said.  
  
******  
  
"Damn it," Ranma said quietly, staring at where Mara  
had been. "I messed up again." The blonde was  
wafting away the smoke and crinkling her nose. She  
glanced to Rally and said something in English looking  
somewhat anxious. Rally responded in the same  
language and turned to Ranko.  
  
"Doesn't look like there was anything you could do  
just then," she said comfortingly.  
  
"Yes there is," Ranko insisted. "I'll bet Ranma or  
Akane would know something. And maybe we can get to  
Nabiki!" She started back toward Ucchan's.  
  
"Hey, wait," Rally called out, holstering her woman  
and running to catch up to Ranko. Minnie May came up  
running up behind Rally shouting in English about how  
this was beginning to sound like a really bad idea.   
"Who're Ranma, Akane and Nabiki?"  
  
"They're my family," Ranko said.  
  
******  
  
Ranma groaned as he sat up and then saw Akane coming  
to as well. From the sound of it Ukyou was recovering  
as well. Ranma took a moment to consider what he had  
just heard.  
  
"You said Ranko was a goddess?" Ranma said.  
  
"Well, duh," Skuld said.  
  
"Skuld be nice," Belldandy instructed.  
  
"Where is Ranko anyway?" Akane asked wearily.  
  
"She went back to use the computer," Skuld said.  
  
"Then why isn't she out here with all the noise we're  
making," Ranma asked. Ukyou, standing up, took notice  
of that and walked back into the office and returned  
with a paste it note.  
  
"'Gone to meet a friend,'" Ukyou read. "'See you  
later.' She must have slipped out the back."  
  
"How long ago did she go back there?" Ranma asked  
frantically.  
  
"Please calm down, Saotome-san," Belldandy said.   
"She is a goddess, she is protected from accidents."  
  
"I'm not worried about an accident," Ranma said.   
"I'm worried about some pervert trying to get the best  
of her. We told you she don't know how ta use  
her...mana?...she's just a normal kid without that."  
  
"Why didn't you teach her how to?" Skuld demanded.   
Ranma and Akane fixed her with a look and Skuld had  
the good grace to look embarrassed.  
  
"Chi is not the same," Belldandy said. "It requires  
different forms of focus to use."  
  
"You're saying that she's been a goddess for four  
years and hasn't learned how to do anything in that  
time?" Keiichi asked, surprised. "I thought it came  
natural."  
  
"It takes hard work you doofus," Skuld snapped.   
~That's why the most I can do without machines is  
paste words all over people.~  
  
"RAAANNMA!!! AKAANEEE!" a voice shouted as the door  
was slammed open. Ranko paused for a moment at the  
sight of the two strangers, and Skuld, then rushed for  
Ranma and Akane. "I've screwed up! I just stood  
there and let them take her!"  
  
"Let who take who?" Akane asked. Eyes turned to the  
two people coming in to the restaurant behind Ranko.   
Akane's eyes narrowed dangerously as she saw the  
holstered gun, and in a flash she was across the room.  
  
"Whoa!" the woman shouted. Her partner produced a  
grenade and a determined expression as she shouted in  
English. "Hey, hey. I'm a friend!" She turned to  
the blonde and said something to her. The blonde  
reluctantly put away her grenade.  
  
"Everybody, let's calm down," Belldandy said.   
"Akane-san, Miss...Ranko-san, please. Can you just  
tell us what's wrong?"  
  
"Don't go for the gun," Akane warned as she let the  
American down.  
  
"Don't worry about me," she said, dusting herself,  
but maintaining a slightly superior look on her face.   
Something that said Akane wasn't going to get the drop  
on her again. It was a bluff though, and both knew  
it. "Good moves."  
  
"Okay," Ranma snapped. "What's going on?"  
  
"You know that game I play on the computer?" Ranko  
asked. Ranma nodded. "I went to go meet Bloodletter,  
she's from the gam-" Skuld fell off her stool and  
sprang up, investigating Ranko's T-Shirt.  
  
"You're Wild Child!?" she gasped. "I'm Neobomb."   
Skuld blinked as the American extended a hand with a  
smirk.  
  
"Guncat, how are you doing?" she said with a smirk.   
Skuld blinked a couple times and nearly fainted.   
"Introductions done? Okay. Because our mutual friend  
Bloodletter just vanished in a puff of smoke." She  
turned to Ranma and Akane. "Ranko seems to think you  
might be able to find a way to get her back."  
  
~I need to learn Japanese,~ Minnie May thought  
irritably as she watched them talk.  
  
"Huh, what happened?" Skuld asked. Ranko gave a  
quick rundown of the events at the park. Skuld was  
twitching throughout most of it. "Bloodletter, is  
Mara...that actually makes sense."  
  
"I'm sorry, Ranko-chan," Belldandy said sadly. "If  
Mara was taken back to Nifelheim, there is nothing you  
can do."  
  
"Well," a new voice added. "It's a good thing she's  
not in Nifelheim then." No one was quite certain when  
the little girl had appeared there, but it was quite  
obvious that she was more than she appeared to be.  
  
"Who are you?" Ranma asked, noting her aura, similar  
to the goddesses' but slightly different.  
  
"Excuse me," the comer addressed Rally. "Can I see  
your gun for a moment, I'd like to see how you killed  
three demons with such a weapon."  
  
"I wasn't supposed to?" Rally asked, hesitantly  
handing over the weapon. It would be good to just why  
she had succeeded in case she had to fight a demon  
again sometime.  
  
"Ceramic gun," the pink-haired woman said. "You made  
it?" Rally nodded. "Impressive. Ahh, crystal  
bullets, that explains it. Must limit the size of the  
gun though."  
  
"Yeah," Rally agreed, accepting the weapon back and  
holstering it. "It's a smaller gun than I like, but  
neither the gun nor the ammunition register on metal  
detectors. Shatters in a nasty pattern when it hits,  
virtually any armor will stop it, but it has lots of  
stopping power and causes some heavy injuries."  
  
"You'll need something bigger for what you're about  
to do," she said. "More rapid fire too, I can give  
you that." Rally felt somewhat vaguely nervous about  
that statement.  
  
"Hey!" Ranko snapped. "We asked who you were?"  
  
"Watch it Wild," the woman said, smirking. "I'll  
give Burns-the-Panda fleas." The three game players  
blinked in surprise.  
  
"Washu-sama," Belldandy said blinking. "I thought  
you were trapped."  
  
"One of my daughter's little friends broke the seal,"  
Washu said. "Now, about, Mara. You know the rules as  
well as I. I can't use my power directly to  
interfere, however, I can use my inventions. So you  
see, Mara is not in Nifelheim. She is in a pocket  
dimension I created to hold her for a little bit."  
  
"So why not just take her all the way back?" Ranma  
asked.  
  
"Because, she IS a demon," Washu said. She sat down  
at a stool and looked at a shell-shocked Ukyou.   
"Don't worry dear, it's just a silly, over-complicated  
crossover. Now can you get me an okonomiyaki and I  
can get on to explaining the situation."  
  
"Uh, sure," Ukyou said.  
  
"If you can drag her physically back here," Washu  
said. "I'm sure something can be done to safeguard  
her. But eventually her master will pull her back  
otherwise."  
  
"So, all we do is go there and bring her back?" Rally  
asked. "Sounds too easy."  
  
"Good food," Washu said. "I'm pretty certain that  
the demons are already trying to get her themselves.   
But I left a security system to hold them off,  
unfortunately, I was rushed. So it'll try to hold  
everyone off."  
  
"What kind of security system?" Skuld asked,  
remembering some past adventures.  
  
"Ever play this game called Quake?" Washu asked.   
Rally and Skuld groaned. "Don't worry, there's help  
coming."  
  
"Like who?" Akane asked. The doorbell rang as the  
door was opened to admit two sets of twins.  
  
"Wow, it looks like a party," one of the older sets  
of twins said. She spotted Rally and waved. "Hey,  
Guncat, its me, Soulsword."  
  
"Uh...you might want to hold off," Rally said. "We  
got some serious trouble coming."  
  
"No, they can be helpful," Belldandy said, she  
glanced to Skuld and the two elder Saotomes for  
confirmation. They all nodded in confirmation.  
  
"Is something wrong?" Ayako asked grimly, narrowing  
her eyes. After the situation was explained she  
looked around at the people as if they were insane.   
"You want us to risk our lives to rescue a demon?   
Okay...that sounds about normal."  
  
"Your sarcasm is noted, cousin," Yohko said dryly.   
Minnie May stopped doing the tennis neck thing for a  
moment and yawned.  
  
"That wasn't the help I was talking about," Washu  
said. A silver haired woman appeared next to Washu  
and started glaring.  
  
"She isn't my daughter any more than you're my  
mother!" the woman snapped. "And what the hell are  
you doing getting her mixed up in some sort of  
interdimensional rescue mission anyway? She's an  
airhead, she'll just mess up and get herself hurt.   
And I...Sasami wouldn't like that."  
  
"Everybody, my daughter Ryoko," Washu said. "Ryoko,  
everybody."  
  
"Hello," Ryoko said gruffly. Then she turned back to  
Washu. "There is nothing you can say to get me to..."  
  
"I'll stop teasing Tenchi for a month," Washu said.   
Ryoko froze.  
  
"Two months," she said. "And you got a deal."  
  
"I knew I could count on you," Washu said, smirking.   
Another woman, almost a carbon copy of Ryoko suddenly  
appeared next to Ryoko.  
  
"Are we ready to go?" she asked cheerfully.  
  
And various characters in the rumor commented, but  
there were now too many people in the scene for the  
author to keep track of...well actually...that had  
happened a while ago.  
  
****** 


End file.
